VHeadline News Editor Patrick J. O'Donoghue reports:
The president of the National Elections Council (CNE) civil register commission, Sandra Oblitas has confirmed that all persons enrolled in the register until December 11 will be able to vote in the upcoming referendum. The opposition has been campaigning for the register to be reopened to accommodate new voters and as a tactic to delay proceedings. Oblitas clarifies that audits will be taking place throughout the entire referendum process, starting with the register. The register of December 11, 2008 will allow 16,949,000 citizens to vote. Oblitas denies that a high percentage of people still remain outside the electoral register and insists that only around 5 to 6% have not enrolled, an all-time low.
According to Federation of Chambers of Industry & Commerce (Fedecamaras) president, Jose Manuel Gonzalez, this year there will be a possible devaluation of the currency, an increase in value added tax (VAT) and taxation of financial transactions but only after the constitutional amendment referendum. Fedecamaras, which held its first meeting of the year, questions the government's haste in pushing through the constitutional amendment and the fact that President Chavez has ordered ministers and state governors to make the amendment top priority. Ministers, the business leader declares, should devote themselves to solving people's problems. Gonzalez also forecasts more foods shortages because of cuts in imports and an inflation rate of around 40%. Growth, he predicts, will be around 0% to 1%.
National Institute of Statistics (INE) president, Elias Eljuri says unemployment in the last 10 years has dropped significantly from 12 to 6 points. Speaking on state television, Eljuri reports that unemployment in December, 2008 reached 6.1% and jobs rose from December 2007 to December 2008 incorporating more than 334,000 people into the job market. 200,000 persons have been incorporated into the formal sector of the economy, which has grown 10 points over the last 10 years, while the informal sector has dropped. Adding further details, the public official status that the average nominal family income is around (Bs.F) 1,895 bolivares and the basic food basket in 2008 was around 856 bolivares ... the government Mercal market basic basket price was around 771 bolivares, a drop of 11%.
Teresa Maniglia has been appointed director-general of presidential communications at the Communication & Information (Minci) Ministry. Maniglia has been prominent in the government communication circles since President Chavez came to power occupying the posts of Minci Vice Minister and director of Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV).
National Assembly (AN) president, Celia Flores has announced that the AN will hand the National Elections Council (CNE) a formal request to hold a referendum to abolish term-limits to all elected posts. Flores states that the referendum will be held on February 15. The National Assembly will discuss the amendment proposal in a second reading, she proclaims, and it will pass the text of the referendum, which will consist of one single question containing all the fundamental elements of the amendment, such as "extending the political rights of citizens and asking if the people agree with the extension." According to Flores, the question could run as follows: do you agree with extending political rights of Venezuelans as contemplated in the amendment of articles 230, 160, 174, 192, 162 of the Constitution through the initiative taken by the National Assembly to allow the postulation to all posts of popular election as the exclusive expression of the people's vote.
Communication & Information (Minci) Minister Jesse Chacon says the problem of insecurity does not date from the arrival of President Chavez in power but is result of diverse causes that must be studied and tackled. The matter is a complex, Chacon states, and he denies that the crime rate has surged dramatically over the last 10 years. The Minister calls on people to read a report by the Peace Center (?), which states that the greatest number of crimes in Venezuela occurred in 1994-1995 when Rafael Caldera was President. At that time, the Minister declares, there were more than 3,000 crimes per hundred thousand inhabitants in Caracas, and while Chacon himself was Interior & Justice (MIJ) Minister, the figure was 1,200 crimes. At the moment, he states, the rate is 1,000 per hundred thousand inhabitants. Furthermore, the Minister argues police officers currently on the street were not trained in the last 10 years and all the corruption that surrounds the security system is historical. "There must be a complete transformation in the security system, Chacon proclaims, and that is what the government hopes to achieve with the National Police law and a new security system.
The National Anti-Drugs Office (ONA) and the Venezuelan Chamber of Medicines (Caveme) have signed an agreement of cooperation to build furnaces throughout Venezuela that will destroy all kinds of drugs. Both organizations have agreed to joint efforts to spread information regarding drug prevention in educational institutions, clinics and hospitals and pharmacies.
Patrick J. O'Donoghue
patrick.vheadline@gmail.com
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Venezuela is facing the most difficult period of its history with honest reporters crippled by sectarianism on top of rampant corruption within the administration and beyond, aided and abetted by criminal forces in the US and Spanish governments which cannot accept the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people to decide over their own future.
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